Does it work elsewhere?

You might think that Scotland presents an interesting challenge to anyone designing a deposit return system. Clusters of urban development surrounded by wild landscapes, a network of remote islands and rugged coastline and, of course, our legendary weather.

The good news is deposit return systems are already working well in other countries that present similar challenges – Canada, Australia, America, Estonia, Germany and Norway.

And more and more governments are beginning to understand the benefits of deposit return systems. The most recent example is the state of New South Wales in Australia.

New South Wales, like Scotland, relies heavily on tourism and promotes its beauty and coastline to the rest of the world. It has vibrant urban centres, as well as remote, isolated places, with tough terrain and unpredictable, sub-tropical weather.

Although New South Wales is 10 times the size of Scotland, its Premier, Mike Baird, has recently agreed to introduce a system there. He understands that the benefits a system will bring are vital to the economic, social and environmental future of New South Wales.

And remoteness isn’t an issue, as the same trucks and boats that carry drinks containers out to remote places can fill up with empty bottles and cans on their way back.

Eesti Pandipakend, the organisation which manages deposit return in Estonia, has a very clear website on the system’s operation. This page, for example, sets out how their system works for packaging companies.